Cold case detectives on St. Croix arrested 25-year-old Jim Wallace Thursday and charged him with the 2004 murder of Rashid Ritter.
Wallace was arrested at the Golden Rock Correctional Facility, where he was awaiting trial on another homicide, the murder of 20-year-old Orlando Clarke, whose body was found behind the Nu Way Gas Station in Estate Prosperity on Feb. 19.
The cold case detectives said they got a break when a witness came forward, allowing them to close the seven-year-old case. According to detectives, in 2004 Ritter, who was 21 at the time, was on house arrest awaiting trial on charges of third-degree assault reckless endangerment when he was called out of his home by an unknown person and shot multiple times.
At that time Wallace was a person of interest in the killing, but it was only the receipt of recent information that led detectives to positively identify Wallace as the shooter and make the arrest.
Wallace was arrested at about 3 p.m. Thursday and bail was set at $1 million, which Wallace was unable to post. He was taken back into the custody of the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility pending further court action.
Police Commissioner Novelle E. Francis Jr. and Assistant Commissioner Raymond L. Hyndman congratulated the cold case detectives who worked on the case and noted that members of the community, stepping forward and saying what they know, were vital to solving the case.
